Even if, you are an expert of your field and can bet a million to prove your claim, you still might require additional or rather soft skills to sustain at work (or at least till you win a million on that bet). These skills are, more often than not, self-taught. These additional skills are usually valued equally, if not more, than your principal skills. It simply makes you a well-groomed employee and corporate world digs for such groomed employee. Even your MBA schools work greatly toward it.
Thus, we have curated a list of additional skills that you must develop if you are a working professional.
Excel
Although, Excel is not as simple as Word, its uses are much varying than Word. You can not only, compile and sort any type of information on it but also interpret it in as many ways as you wish. Excel can aid you to plan and sort your life, too. If nothing, the blocks are satisfying to look at, if you have mild OCD. So we suggest, you learn Excel as soon as you can instead of lying on your resume (it has often proved to be life changing).
SEO
After the much anticipated social media boom, there is hardly anything that is not talked about on it. From something political, brand-related to something as silly as the Kiki challenge, anything can potentially trend. And SEO or Search Engine Optimization helps you to push your work on search engines either organically or through paid sponsorship. It helps you to generate more traffic on your website, get more recognition and prospect audience. We highly recommend that you learn SEO, if your company requires media presence more than anything.
Networking
There’s only so much hard-work one can put to climb the ladder of success. As unfortunate and brutal it may sound, but sometimes hard-word on its own, does not pay off. You also need to do smart work. Networking is nothing but making work friends and sometimes, even lifelong friends. These friends have your back whenever you are in a dark place work-wise. Networking can help you get places in the corporate world.
Effective communication
People often don’t realize the power of effective communication. If you express something as passionately and meaningfully as you can but the other doesn’t so much get a whiff of it, then it is nothing but nonsense. You need to have effective communication skills to sustain in a commercial world. Where, a tiny miscommunication or lack of accountability for words spoken can lose you your job, its better to learn effective communication.
Listening
Most people hardly recognize listening as a skill, ‘it is only using one of your senses, what’s the big deal’ they’d say. But it is much more than just hearing things. Listening carefully and avidly can help you remember details and intricacies that others might lose out on. It shows how attentive and respective you are towards the speaker, who may not be just your boss but anyone. We suggest, you be so attentive at listening things, that people use you as a witness every time they have a doubt.
Small talk
Not everyone wants to have a long and meaningful conversation in the middle of a work day, at least not about your boring weekends. A workplace has a diversity of people and this could include introverts or anti-socials. In such cases, if you are a skilled small talker it could be easier for you to defuse the lingering giant awkward bubble whenever you have to interact with them and make them feel less uncomfortable.
Decision Making
Be it an employer or employee, having decision making skills is equally important for both. If you are an employer, you might have to make a decision that can potentially affect the whole company, for better or worse. If you are an employee, you might have to make decisions that will affect your life as well as of those in your life. Hence, knowing how to make a well judged decision can prevent you from failures or fall backs.
Time Management
A place where everyone believes, ‘Time is money’ is their first gospel, you don’t to waste your time or anyone’s for that matter. Time management becomes a primary necessity when you are a working professional. You must learn to prioritize your work. You don’t want a huge pile of pending work on your desk, which would do nothing but increase your stress and anxiety and limit your maximum productivity.
Social Skills
Not everyone is born with extroverted tendencies or a center pf attraction in a room full of people. But developing and working towards basic social skills can certainly help you survive in the corporate world. If nothing, it would encourage you to go to work and not make you feel like you’re working in a prison. If you’ve tried enough, but your workplace is just too hostile, then don’t blame yourself.
Open to learning new skills
No-one is perfect. Everyone is a work in progress. But being flexible and open enough to learn new skills can only make you a ‘good piece of work in progress’. You don’t have to worry about acing or failing at it, you just try to learn a bit more everyday.
That was our list of additional skills for if you are a working professional. We hope that it was helpful.
